Brain tumor - children

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Brain

Primary brain tumor

Overview

Symptoms

Treatment

Prevention

Brain tumor - children

Alternative Names:

Glioblastoma multiforme - children; Ependymoma - children; Glioma - children; Astrocytoma - children; Medulloblastoma - children; Neuroglioma - children; Oligodendroglioma - children; Meningioma - children; Cancer - brain tumor (children)

Symptoms:

The specific symptoms vary, but may include:

Headache -- a persistent headache that is new for the child, worse on awakening
Vomiting -- possibly accompanied by nausea; more severe in the morning
Personality and behavior changes
Emotional instability, rapid emotional changes
Loss of memory, impaired judgment
Seizures that are new for the child
Reduced alertness
Double vision, decreased vision
Hearing loss
Decreased sensation of a body area
Weakness of a body area
Speech difficulties
Decreased coordination, clumsiness, falls
Fever (sometimes)
Weakness, lethargy
General ill feeling
Positive Babinski's reflex
Decerebrate posture
Decorticate posture

IN INFANTS

Bulging fontanelles
Separated sutures
Opisthotonos
Increased head circumference
No red reflex in the eye

Additional symptoms that may be associated with primary brain tumors:

Signs and tests:

A doctor can often identify signs and symptoms that are specific to the location of the tumor. Some tumors may not show symptoms until they are very large and cause a rapid decline in the child's mental function. Other tumors have symptoms that develop slowly.

Most brain tumors increase pressure within the skull and compress brain tissue because of their size and weight.

The following tests may confirm the presence of a brain tumor and identify its location:

CT scan of the head
MRI of the head
EEG
Examination of tissue removed from the tumor during surgery or CT-guided biopsy (may confirm the exact type of tumor)
Examination of the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) may reveal cancerous cells

Review Date: 9/20/2004
Reviewed By: Adam S. Levy, MD, Section of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, The Children's Hospital at Montefiore, Bronx, NY. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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